With Nyack Mayor John Shields stepping down at the end of his term, four Democrats have sought to take his place, forcing a competitive primary.

To supplement a candidates forum held earlier this week, the Friends of the Nyacks posted questionnaire responses from all four Democratic candidates running for mayor. The primary is Tuesday, Sept. 15.

The [...]

Septemberfest, a street fair hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of the Nyacks, will take place — rain or shine — on Sunday, Sept. 13 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A large portion of Main Street will be closed for the event to let an expected 25,000 pedestrians stroll around downtown.

The festival this year will [...]

In recognition of the renewed interest in the black panther(s) roving around Orangetown (and the inevitable sightings it will bring), I wanted to post a real photo Piermont Mayor Chris Sanders sent me a while ago, back when the panther was on the lip of every tongue and apparently lurking in every driveway. Most recently, [...]

Louis Mazzucca of Orangeburg submitted this photo of the Sons of Italy Rockland Lodge 2176 college scholarship awards event on June 24. The students who received the awards were Vincent Battiato, Jennifer Reynolds, Noelle DeNome, Elizabeth Rizzuto, Philip Hirsch, Luke Mennillo and Roberta Lee.

Nyack is now offering free parking on Thursdays from 6 to 9 p.m.

Local merchants Patti Aagaard and Marie Somos, who’ve created several collaborative business projects in Nyack, asked the village board to provide the free parking to help promote “Thursday Night Open Late.”

Merchants hope the initiative, which includes extended store hours and restaurant promotions, will [...]

Marie Lorenzini, a village trustee who is running for mayor this year, said she wanted to do something special for Flag Day, an often forgotten American holiday.

So, this year she asked to receive a U.S. flag flown over the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., which she presented to the Nyack Fire Department after the volunteer [...]

Tonight at 7:30 p.m.: Riverspace is hosting a concert to benefit the theater and the Soup Angels soup kitchen. Members of the principal brass of the New York Philharmonic will be playing a one-hour concert. Prices are $12 for students, $18 for adults. Ice cream and cake reception following the show (and who doesn’t like [...]

Orangetown officials are looking for public input on what is being called the largest private development in Orangetown history.

The homebuilder K. Hovnanian plans to replace dozens of defunct RPC buildings with 575 housing units worth about $300 million when completed, according to town estimates. Nearly all the new units would be restricted to people ages [...]

Below are two lists—the first is Nyack’s new parking fines fee structure, which will go into effect starting Monday, the second is the old list of fines. I should mention that these fine increases come on the same day as a new 25 cent hike in metered parking, to 75 cents an hour.

While parking meter [...]

The town of Orangetown is seeking candidates to fill a vacancy on its Zoning Board of Appeals. The ZBA meets twice a month to hear applications for use and area variances. Members of the five-person board are paid $4,778 annually. Interested Orangetown residents can submit a letter of interest and resume to Town Supervisor Thom [...]

I got emailed this flyer, which I hear has been circulating around local businesses since the village board said it wanted to raise parking fines. By the way, the board is planning to meet on Thursday, Feb. 26 to continue discussion on changing parking fines. If you want to read more on this and the [...]

The Palisades Community Center seems to have found the answer to the dearth of farmers’ markets in the winter. Starting this Saturday, the center will be hosting what may be Rockland’s first indoor farmers’ market. It will be held every Saturday from February to April, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the center, 675 Oak [...]

The Pearl River School District will be holding a budget focus group meeting Friday for parents of children not yet in kindergarten (from birth to 5). The session will take place from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. at Pearl River High School, 275 E. Central Ave, in the Pirate Cove meeting room. The district will be [...]

The Orangetown Town Clerk will hold satellite office hours at the Pearl River Library on Wednesday, Feb. 4 and Wednesday, Feb. 11, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., providing 2009 commuter parking permits, handicap permits, dog licenses and requests for vital statistics.

Dozens of people met at the Nyack Center last week to look over the redesign plans for Memorial Park, a 5-acre patch of green space along the Hudson that is Nyack’s only public park. The $7 million to $15 million project would take 10 years to complete and would revamp the park with more open [...]

The 23rd annual Tri-State International Auto Show will be held at the Rockland Community College Fieldhouse, 145 College Road in Ramapo starting Friday. Admission is $8 for adults, $3 for kids 10 to 15, and kids under 10 can come in free. Here are the times:

Friday, from 2 to 9 p.m.

Saturday, from 10 a.m. to [...]

The holidays are over, everyone is miserably back at work or school, and I regret to inform all of you that the Orangetown Highway Department wants to remind us all of that fact by taking away our beloved Christmas trees. Admittedly, I never had one, being of another religious persuasion (Summum), but if you would [...]

In today’s paper, you’ll find my article on revised plans for a family-oriented sports and entertainment complex in Orangetown. The multimillion-dollar facility would include an aquatic center, a bowling center and lounge and an ice rink. If you’re interested, check it the whole story here.

The developer, STEJ, sent over a few photos of the project [...]

Curbside loose leaf collection in South Nyack ends after today.

For the rest of the season, leaves must be bagged.

For more information, call Village Hall at 845-358-0287.

At a budget workshop last night, I got a chance to bump into Doug Foster, a village guy who helps run a local blog. If you haven’t seen it, check it out some time: www.nyacknewsandviews.com. It’s got meeting dates, blog entries on recent news and they even gave one of my stories a shoutout.

Orangetown Councilwoman Nancy Low-Hogan will host two informal, community meetings in the upcoming weeks. The first will be tomorrow in the Greenbush Auditorium by the Orangeburg Library, 20 South Greenbush Road. The second will be held Thursday, Nov. 20 at the DeWint House, on Livingston Street and Oak Tree Road, in Tappan. Both meetings will [...]

YEAH BOY-EE! After months of trying, Vinny Raffa, local Internet radio host and East Coast skateboarding scene godfather, snagged his first big “get” for his Thursday night show — Stephen Baldwin, the virtuoso in such stoner classics as Bio-Dome and Half Baked. For Thursday’s interview, Raffa and Baldwin, a Grandview resident, sat down at Rockland [...]

A whole lot of Ramapo news for this Week in Review.

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County Democrats abandon meeting

Motorcyclist who hit Nyack restaurant suffers leg injury

Ramapo police commission grants officer’s request for Sabbath off

Ramapo cop wants same religious consideration as collegue

Vendetta Paintball fills void in Rockland

Ramapo mom gives birth before rescuers arrive

Here’s the newest Rockland podcast.

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5 arrested in Haverstraw nunchuck brawl

RCC report finds water, mold problems at Brucker

Cop who ran 100-mile race nabs man easily

Back-to-school edition for the Land of Rock podcast. Enjoy, friends.

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Burning tugboat disaster averted on river

S. Nyack family accuses sheriff’s office of racial profiling

Smooth opening for Rockland schools

Scenery businesses put Rockland on the map